President Barack Obama and wife Michelle want their daughters Malia and Sasha to get a taste of what it’s like to work for minimum wage. The president and first lady both worked minimum-wage jobs before they went to law school and tell Parade magazine they want the same sort of experience for their teenage daughters. As Reuters writes, President Obama has focused this year on issues including raising the minimum wage, now $7.25 an hour. Asked by Parade whether they want their daughters to work in “character building minimum-wage jobs” as their parents did, the first lady replies: “Oh, yeah. I think every kid needs to get a taste of what it’s like to do that real hard work.”

“We are looking for opportunities for them to feel as if going to work, and getting a paycheck is not always fun,” the president says.

Here’s what’s ahead for House Republicans: With a newly elected GOP leadership team and less than 40 days on the legislative calendar before November, the House has must-pass bills including funding for highway programs and the Export-Import Bank. The Washington Post writes that hard-line conservatives have vowed to make House Speaker John Boehner’s job difficult, opening up the possibility he will need a deal with Democrats on must-pass legislation.

Unite and conquer: Potential Republican presidential candidates such as Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky see a sweet spot in defending religious liberty, notes a piece in Friday’s Wall Street Journal. Pitches from the two come as two of the GOP’s most powerful factions — social conservatives and tea-party activists — are increasingly at odds over the party’s priorities. The Journal says religious liberty has the potential to unify the conservative grass roots.

Sen. Paul is also weighing in on Iraq: The Kentucky lawmaker told reporters President Obama should seek new authority from Congress before taking military action. Paul said it would be “absurd” to rely on the 2001 authorization to use force. Roll Call has more on Paul’s remarks, which came after Obama said he’s prepared to take targeted military action if he determines the situation requires it.

It’s Sarah Palin vs. Brett Favre in Mississippi’s political carnival. Politico writes about who’s endorsing whom in the state’s heated runoff for a Senate seat, in which Sen. Thad Cochran is facing insurgent conservative Chris McDaniel. Palin and other activists are backing McDaniel, while Super Bowl–winning quarterback Favre is behind Cochran. “What began as a bare-bones campaign against Sen. Thad Cochran has bloomed into a full-blown political carnival,” says the piece.

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